Romania Blocks Visit by King Michael : East Europe: The timing is called ‘inopportune’ because of upcoming elections.

The Romanian government Thursday blocked the country’s former monarch, King Michael, from returning to the country on what his friends and family described as a “private visit.”

The ruling Council of National Unity described the timing of the proposed visit, less than six weeks before national elections, as “inopportune,” and said the former king would be welcome to visit after the elections, set for May 20.

The 68-year-old king, who was forced to abdicate when a Soviet-backed Communist government was installed in 1947, lives in Geneva, where he has worked as a flight instructor.

“We are very disappointed,” said the king’s daughter, Princess Helen, who lives in England but arrived here several days ago to help pave the way for her father’s visit, which would have been his first since he was sent into exile.

The Romanian government earlier said it had no objection to the king’s visit and had provided visas for Michael, his wife, Queen Ann, and their eldest daughter, Princess Margarita, who were to join him.

Last week, however, one of the leading opposition political parties, the National Liberal Party, protested the visit, arguing that it should be postponed until after the May vote.

The National Salvation Front, which dominates the provisional government installed after the December revolution here, agreed with the National Liberal Party and pushed a decision through the Council of National Unity, the policy-making body that presides over the government.

Government spokesman Romulus Neagu said the king had been informed of the decision Wednesday night by a Romanian diplomat in Bern, the Swiss capital.

There was a good deal of confusion, however, at the headquarters of the king’s entourage in the Inter-Continental Hotel in Bucharest, where preparations were under way to celebrate his arrival.

Danielle Maillefer, a spokeswoman for the group, said that King Michael had begun his journey Thursday morning, flying from Geneva to Zurich to board a flight to Bucharest. She said that Romanian officials informed Swissair, whose flight the king was to take to Bucharest, that the king’s visa had been revoked and that he should not be allowed on the flight.

“It’s a very sad situation,” Maillefer said. “I think this shows the true colors of the National Salvation Front.” She described the king’s visit as “a kind of personal pilgrimage.”

“The visit has no political overtones whatsoever,” she added, although she said the king has expressed his willingness to assume his reign once more, in a constitutional monarchy, if the Romanian people want him to.

About 200 people who had gathered at the airport to meet Michael raised a mild protest, shouting slogans against the government, but the reaction among most Romanians was mild.

“I think it is good for him not to come right now,” said Irena Ionescu, 55. “I think of his safety. People are excitable here these days. But I would like to see him. I hear he is a nice man. But, no, I don’t think we want to have a king in Romania.”

“I think the government acted correctly,” said Chiran Danultz, 21. “During the elections is not a good time to visit. Some incident could happen. Maybe later it would be OK for him to visit. I don’t think anyone here wants a monarchy. We’ve had enough of totalitarian power. We want a democracy.”

Neagu, the government spokesman, said the visit “could not help but be political.” He said that a meeting with the king in Timisoara and a celebratory Mass in Bucharest had been planned.

“Obviously,” he said, “events of this scale are political events.”

BACKGROUND

The only son of King Carol II, who abdicated in 1925, King Michael ruled Romania twice: from 1927 to 1930 (between ages 5 and 8) under the supervision of a Regency Council, and again between 1940 and 1947. In the interim, his father returned to the throne. In 1940, Gen. Ion Antonescu, who involved Romania in World War II on the Nazi side, forced out Carol II and installed Michael, under his strict control. After the war, the Communists, Michael’s backers say, forced his abdication at gunpoint by threatening to massacre his supporters.